My 6 year old boy rode his bike for the first time (with training wheels) and he was on cloud nine all day. Reminded me of something I wrote a couple of years ago and just wanted to post for all the dads out there. I suspect that most will share the same feelings…
Being a Dad
I have the toughest job in the world – frustration, low (no) pay, long hours and the most demanding bosses that you have ever met……………………
I’m a dad. Maybe you are too.
A lot of opinion has been paid to parenting lately, with articles, opinions and commentaries about how to do it best coming from all kinds of sources. Sometimes it seems as if there is no end to the stream of experts who will tell you the best way to raise your kids, or who are ready to tell you that you are doing it all wrong.
And sometimes I am ready to believe them. There have been countless times when it seemed that I just couldn’t do anything right. I have huge doubts that I am cut out for this, or that I am the right man for the job. Yes, I lose my temper – yell and rage- and then feel like a fool and an incompetent for losing my self-control. I ask myself – what am I doing wrong? Who am I to have taken on this tremendous responsibility? Why do all of the other parents seem to be doing so much better at this than I am?
But then there are the rewards too, and they seem to come along just in the nick of time to banish the blues. When I come home from work, and my 5 year old runs up with a hug and a big “Hi, Dad!”, I feel 10 feet tall. I get an incredible amount of pleasure at seeing their pride in mastering a new skill, such as riding a bike or making a cast with a fishing pole, almost as if I had done it myself. That smile of accomplishment wipes out a lot of the doubts. Few words are more pleasant to hear than an exuberant “look at what I can do, Dad!”
There is so much that I want to teach my boys – so much of myself that I want to pass along to them. Too many of the most important lessons in life are not learned at school, and that is what I am really here for. I feel so sad for those boys and girls who are deprived of a set of parents who really care for them.
So I keep going on as best as I possibly can, knowing that I am not perfect. If I really had known what I was getting into, maybe I wouldn’t have taken this job. But now that I have it, I wouldn’t trade it for any other in the world.
